Okay, so folks ask me how I put together a photo project. Honestly, it’s not some grand, complicated thing most of the time. It just sort of… happens. Let me walk you through how it usually goes down for me.
Getting That First Little Idea
It often starts really small. I’m not sitting around waiting for divine inspiration. Maybe I’m walking around, see some weird light, or maybe I keep noticing the same kind of thing over and over again on my commute. Sometimes it’s a feeling I want to capture, like loneliness or maybe the buzz of a city market. It just lodges itself in my brain, you know? A little itch I need to scratch.
For instance, one time I just kept seeing old, abandoned chairs sitting outside. On the curb, in alleys, by dumpsters. Started thinking about the stories they might have, who sat in them. That was it. That became the seed.
Chewing on the Idea
So, I’ve got this little spark. I don’t immediately grab my camera. I let it sit for a bit. Roll it around in my head. What’s the real thing I want to show? With the chairs, was it about decay? Was it about memory? Or just the funny places they ended up? I might scribble down a few words, maybe some rough visual ideas. Nothing formal, just helps me wrap my head around it. It’s more feeling than strict planning at this stage.
Figuring Out the ‘How To’
Alright, time to get a bit practical. I think about what I actually need to do.
- What camera makes sense? Usually just whatever I have with me, honestly.
- Do I need to go anywhere specific? For the chair project, I knew I’d just find them wandering around my usual routes.
- Is it about a certain time of day? Maybe early morning light works best, or maybe harsh midday sun.
- Do I need people? Mostly not for my stuff, but if I did, I’d think about who and how to ask.
This part is just about smoothing the path, making sure I don’t get stuck because I didn’t think about needing, say, a tripod or needing to be somewhere before it closes.
Actually Taking Pictures
This is where I get out and shoot. Simple as that. I try not to overthink it when I’m actually doing it. I take a lot of pictures. Way more than I’ll ever use. Different angles, maybe zoom in, zoom out. Sometimes I see something completely different that connects to the idea, or maybe the idea itself shifts while I’m shooting. That’s fine. I just follow my gut and keep clicking. With the chairs, I just photographed every interesting one I came across for a few weeks.
The Big Sort-Out
Okay, shooting’s done. Now comes the part where I dump all those photos onto my computer. It’s usually a mess. Hundreds, maybe thousands of images if I got carried away. First, I do a quick run-through. Anything obviously bad – blurry, totally dark, my thumb in the shot – gets deleted. Bye bye. Then I go through again, slower. Looking for the images that really feel right for the project idea. Which ones tell that story, or capture that mood? I mark the ones I like, the ‘maybes’. Then I narrow it down again until I have a stronger set.
Cleaning Them Up a Bit
I’m not a huge editing wizard. I keep it simple. I use basic software, usually just sliders. Adjust the brightness if it’s too dark, add a little contrast to make it pop. Maybe tweak the colors slightly if they look weird. Sometimes I crop a photo to improve the composition. The goal is just to make the photo look its best version of itself, not turn it into something else entirely. I try to make sure the photos in the project have a reasonably consistent look and feel.
Making Sense of It All
Now I have my final selection of photos. But how do they go together? I start arranging them. Does putting this one next to that one create a connection? Is there a beginning, middle, end? Or is it more of a collection? Sometimes I print small versions and lay them out on the floor. Other times I just move files around in a folder on my computer screen. Seeing them together helps figure out the best flow. I also think about how I want to show them – maybe just a simple series on my blog, or perhaps make a small photo book.
Sharing and Moving On
And that’s pretty much it. I put the project out there in whatever form I decided on. Might write a few words about it, might not. The main thing is getting it to a point where I feel it’s done. Then, I kinda just forget about it and start thinking about that next little itch, that next small idea that popped into my head. It’s a cycle, you know?
